Crash
by Nodomme
Summary: TOP GEAR: "James tore his gaze away from Richard and managed to throw one look on the road ahead of them to see the cause of distress, before everything faded to black." Co-written with my dearest. Uploaded with his permission.
1. The Roadtrip

Chapter 1 – The Roadtrip

"Oh come on ladies, get a move on will you?" Jeremy taunted Richard and James as he took the lead in their road trip-turned-race from Birmingham to Berlin in his Ferrari 458 Italia. "Easy for you to say you pompous airhead, you're not the one driving a darned Mini," Hammond replied audibly annoyed. "and who the hell decided that I was to team up with May on this, that's close to forfeiting already!"

"Yes yes, very funny Hammond." James wasn't one for the infantile insults and he wasn't planning on letting Hammond nor Clarkson get the better of him today. He'd been stressed out for weeks what with the overtime they all had been pulling at the set and he needed some time off to clear his head. The fact that his own car, an almost fluorescent green Fiat Panda, had broken down about an hour into the trip wasn't helping either.

"I was kidding you know, I think we can still win this." Richards' words surprised James as he casually shifted gears from fourth to fifth. Hammond always had a calm attitude about him, but not when it came down to a race. His expression would grow harsh and his grip on the wheel would tighten, removing the blood from his hands until they would go numb and he realized what he was doing. But not today. No, Hammond seemed far too at ease with the way their race was going even though they had fallen behind roughly 40 miles already due to James' loyal Panda dying at a crucial moment.

As James pondered on what Hammond could be up to he found himself studying Hammond closely, taking in his every detail. The way his hair was desperately trying to break free from the confinement it was hastily placed in by Richard in the morning, and his chest slowly going up and down as he breathed in the fresh air emanating from the air-conditioning in the Mini. For a split second James felt happy for the first time in weeks, and he had no idea why.

His brief moment of euphoria was abruptly ended by a sudden movement from Richard, whose look turned from relaxed to tense, no, even worried. James tore his gaze away from Richard and managed to throw one look on the road ahead of them to see the cause of distress, before everything faded to black.

Jeremy had been driving for hours on end now and he was getting fed up with being ignored by both Hammond and May. "Honestly, those bloody nimrods probably took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up in Sweden somewhere." Jeremy mumbled to himself. He consoled himself by looking at his GPS and finding that he'd arrive in Berlin in two more hours if he kept to the speed limit, something Jeremy was not known for doing. He grabbed his cell and decided to give Hammond and May a call instead of using their usual means of communication in these races, an old radio set they'd picked up in a pawn shop somewhere in east London in a shady district for a whopping ten quid.

He called Hammond at first, ready to give his imminent rant his all. Oddly, Hammond didn't answer and the cell went to voicemail. "Bloody hell, too dumb to even pick up a phone now are we?" growled Jeremy, now quite fed up with waiting. His annoyance turned to full hatred when even May, who had never missed a call from Jeremy since they'd met, didn't pick up his phone. "Alright ladies, you two lovebirds enjoy yourself in that rigid old Mini whilst I grab a pint in Berlin on my own, I'll see you two when you finally decide to take a cab instead!" was the only thing Jeremy left on James' answering machine. Jeremy's mood brightened up considerably when he pulled up to the hotel in Berlin, where the three of them would stay for three days.

It was quite the lovely hotel in the centre of Berlin and after Jeremy had checked in he found himself bathed in luxury in their, but for now his, suite. The place was huge and Jeremy was quite sure his own villa didn't even have this big a kitchen. Not that it would matter, because Jeremy recalled both Hammond and May mumbling something about 'not cooking our own darned meals while we're on vacation', a stipulation Jeremy couldn't agree more with.

After unpacking his things and threatening the 18 year old valet employee to remove his sack and feeding it to Rosie O'Donnel while she's on her period if he would even so much as smudge his brand new Ferrari, Jeremy was worn down from the journey there and decided to call it a night.

James slowly opened his eyes as he was rudely awoken by a raging headache, combined with a searing pain in his lower back and his right knee. Still dazed by the blow and unable to remember anything from the crash, he clumsily stumbled out of the wreckage that was once a Mini. "What the…." was all James could utter before being slammed to the ground once again. He felt something press against his mouth and as he opened his eyes again, he saw Hammond sitting on top of him making a hushing symbol with his hands. James nodded and Hammond slowly rolled off of James, something that made James cringe with even more pain.

"We have to be very quiet and stay in the shadows" whispered Jeremy. "Hammond… what the hell happened?" James didn't bother to whisper, he was enduring plenty of pain and he wasn't going to obey the order of someone who had not only crashed their car, but also slammed him into the ground a second time for good measure. He switched his tone to a quiet whisper after seeing the look on Richard's face though, which was one of sheer terror. Whatever had happened, it had affected Richard greatly. "Didn't you see that… that thing?" was all Richard could utter in his terrified state.

"No. All I remember is that you either hit something or something hit you, after that it's all a big gap," James slowly whispered. He could see that there was something bad going on. He'd never seen Richard like this but he did know one thing; whatever it was that Richard saw, it scarred him for life. "if you could tell me that'd be great though, seeing how I'd like to get the hell out of this place as soon as possible." James took in his environment for the first time as he said this, but the only thing that he recognized was the crushed remainder of the Mini.

"Well you got that right, something hit us pretty bad and completely obliterated the Mini. I'm not sure if my mind played tricks on me though, or if that thing really was what I think it was.." Richard said. As James listened to Jeremy elaborating further and further on what he had seen before the crash, he grew increasingly worried for whatever brain damage Richard might have incurred after the crash and how big of a blow to the head would cause him to utter such gibberish. "Hammond…" James carefully whispered after Richard finished his rant about a creature as big as the Mini itself ramming their vehicle at full velocity, staring them down with eyes as red as blood and a fur as black as the night itself. "We'd been driving for quite some time and you were probably tired, we must've hit a deer or something like that.." James' sentence was abruptly ended when Hammond threw himself at him for a second time, this time staring at him with a crazed grin. "I know what I saw, May. That.. that thing, was no fucking deer, and if you plan on getting yourself killed by going out there now then you're a darned fool!" Hammond almost shouted whilst nervously twitching his eyelid.

James was surprised by Hammond's sudden change in personality and entertained the thought of Hammond speaking the truth for a little while, before deciding on a different tactic. "Very well, Hammond. I believe you. But if this creature is still out here, we have to get away from it as soon as possible." James now whispered with quite the convincing tone. Hammond calmed down a bit at the sound of these words and backed away from James once more. "I'm.. I'm sorry May, I didn't mean to hurt you there." Richard said before returning to the wreckage of the Mini to grab the mangled first aid kit. "We have to treat that leg and back of yours before we're going anywhere, or we won't even make it to the main road." Richard's words pulled James' gaze away from his now slightly mental friend and towards his injuries. He hadn't exactly gotten the time yet to examine what was wrong yet, but as he removed his pants at Richards' command to clean the wound on his knee he suddenly felt the pain burning through him worse than ever. A three inch long gaping wound had ruined his knee and he could clearly see the white of his busted kneecap shining through the deep cut.

Hammond gasped for air at the mere sight of the brutal wound and backed away on impulse. He hastily got himself together and started hopelessly searching through the first aid kit. "It's.. uh.. not all that bad actually, if we can just.. uh.. oh bollocks." Richard mumbled whilst franticly searching for some miracle medicine in the kit. James had gathered his calm far sooner and took the kit from Richard's currently incompetent hands. "Relax Hammond, it is but a flesh wound." James said softly. Richard was not fond of seeing James hurt and was struggling to keep it together, but as he saw James swiftly close the wound up with a compression bandage and a lot of gauze he calmed down a bit. The leg didn't look nearly as morbid as before anymore and James said he could apply pressure on the leg just fine now, so Richard didn't question it further.

"Right, are you ready to go now?" James said. He wanted to get out of this place as soon as possible, and dealing with his injury and Richard's paranoid stories took them almost the full night, something James hadn't noticed until the bright beams of sunlight broke the darkness in the forest that had surrounded them. Richard seemed to have returned to his old self now that the sun was up again, and he tried calling the civilized world one more time with his cell only to realize that the line was still dead. "I guess we've no choice now, do we?" Richard uttered. "Besides, we still have a race to win here."


	2. Wandering

Chapter 2 – Wandering

Jeremy was awoken by the sound of screeching tires outside the hotel, a sound he would recognize unmistakably, regardless of the magnitude of his sleep deprivation from the trip. "That's.. THAT'S MY CAR" Jeremy screamed with a ferocious roar. He sprinted out of the room still dressed in nothing but his boxers and went straight for the valet parking booth. "Good morning sir, please show me your ticket and ID and you can be on your w.." the valet employee abruptly stopped as he looked up from his cell during his revised introduction to behold a sight not fit for the eyes of any man, let alone an 18 year old who still believed there was some form of innocence in the world. Standing at the booth was a middle aged man dressed in nothing but his boxers, flaunting his fist about and screaming something about "ending whoever touched his only joy in his life." Jeremy gazed at the obviously baffled man and realized this was futile. Instead, he ran inside and politely requested the hotel manager to call the police, after harassing the receptionist a bit by making every single WWII joke in his repertoire.

Jeremy filed the police report about two hours later when they had finally arrived on scene, something that had aggravated Jeremy even further. At this point, Jeremy felt that he was close to exploding and decided to relieve some stress by yelling the valet employee some more, who quit his job shortly after the excruciating rant.

James and Richard had been walking for hours on end, but the forest that surrounded them on every side was large and dense and had no definable pattern or shape. It wasn't until the duo had passed the wreckage of the Mini for the third time and realizing they had, yet again, managed to walk around in a full circle that Hammond decided to take counteractive measurements. "Right, this isn't working May. We need a plan and we need one now, because I've just about had it with being stuck in the middle of nowhere and I've no intention of being here when night falls again." Richard mumbled to James with a slightly irritated undertone.

James observed Richard closely as he spoke, but the words did not reach him. Instead he found himself completely hypnotized by Richards tread, his scent and the way the morning dew had cast a glistening layer on his hair, perfectly reflecting the ever so bright rays of sunlight that were being cast upon him. It wasn't until Richard had stopped moving and turned to look at James before he realized he hadn't replied to Richard at all. "Right. Sorry, I think I might have a minor heatstroke from this scorching sun." was James' poor excuse. He nervously anticipated Richards reply to see if he would buy it and to his relief he did. "That's quite alright James, that's one of the reasons I think we should figure out a way to get out of here right now. I suggest we split up and each take one of the transmitters for the radio so we can cover more ground." Richard spoke loud and clear this time, to ensure the words would reach James regardless of his heatstroke. James didn't like the idea of leaving Richard alone in the middle of nowhere, but he had to agree that it was probably for the best to do so and thus the duo split up with nothing but a rusty old transmitter for the both of them.

James waited for Richard to leave first before he took off in the opposite direction. Even though James didn't want to miss out on Richards company he knew that he would get out of this bothersome situation far swifter without Richard slowing him down. James might've been known as Captain Slow to most, but if there was one thing he was an expert in it was systematically discovering a pattern in complete and utter chaos. He slowly walked towards the outskirt of the forest and searched around for a while to find a bunch of equally sized sticks. He figured he'd make a symbol every quarter mile or so to ensure he could find his way back to the wreckage, and although he was happy with the system he simultaneously wished he'd told Richard to do the same. He knew Richard was far too impulsive to think of an actual system to cover ground and feared he'd get lost and mauled by a bear, or even worse, a ferocious deer as big as a Mini. James grinned a bit at the thought of Hammond's wild story before getting his move on again. This was no laughing matter, they'd been without food and water for quite some time now and the searing heat was not helping at all, nor was the still very much stinging pain in his knee.

The couple sitting across the bar from Jeremy threw a disgusted look at the nauseating display that was Jeremy. He'd decided to make the most of his already ruined stay and ordered the biggest meal the bar had available, as well as a steady flow of pints to keep his throat nice and smooth for singing along loudly and off key to Billy Joel. He'd started off with a typical German delicacy, a sausage so big he could've sworn it came from a creature bread in Chernobyl, accompanied by a large portion of sauerkraut and a liter of lager. The couple hadn't come in until he'd repeated this process for the sixth time though, and the stench emanating from the now quite intoxicated man would induce fear and disgust in even the most hardened of men.

"WHAT are… youuuuuuuuu looking at?!" Jeremy drunkenly shouted once he finally caught the stares of the young couple. "Do you think you're.. you're better than me? Huh? Do you?" Jeremy continued. The couple looked frightened by Jeremy's aggressive approach and decided to pick up their bill and leave. "That's right, you better run! Just like WWII, isn't it!" Jeremy shouted after them right before getting kicked out of the bar by the owner. He clumsily grabbed his keys from his pocket and tried to get into his rental car, a Volkswagen Beetle. Jeremy was appalled when he was appointed the tiny vehicle, but he wasn't planning on walking everywhere and the manager talked him into it after complementing his excellent presentational skills in Top Gear. Jeremy's weak point had always been having his ever so large ego stroked, but he wished he had made his stand right now as he approached the ridiculous vehicle in a swirling tread.

"If you're getting into that car I'm calling the police" Jeremy heard the owner of the bar shout after him. "Sod off you German piece of.." Jeremy didn't get the time to out the rest of the insult as he felt that German piece of whatever slamming his fist into his face. He took a brief moment to realize what had just happened, and was then filled with rage. "Very well good sir, let us engage in fisticuffs!" Jeremy mumbled. The man looked at him strangely and wanted to return to the bar, but Jeremy moved forward and took a swing at him. His coordination had been a bit off though and he managed to plant his fist not on the man's face, but on the windshield of the Beetle. The man burst out in laughter, and took another swing at Jeremy. His coordination was a lot better and Jeremy felt his nose moving the wrong way, followed by a loud cracking sound. "That hurts you bloody pillock!" Jeremy mumbled whilst covering his now blooded face. He removed his hand seconds after, and upon seeing the blood his brain decided enough was enough and turned the lights off.

Jeremy woke up the next day at the hospital in a bright room with seven other patients, who were all being visited by friends and family. He looked around for a while to see if he spotted Hammond and May, before realizing they hadn't shown up yet in Berlin to begin with and probably didn't know he got himself into the hospital. He didn't get the chance to remember what had caused him to end up here in the first place though, due to a raging headache slamming him back into reality. He desperately rammed the 'request nurse' button on the remote that hung on the side of the bed and demanded a high dose of morphine when the nurse showed up mere seconds later. "I'm sorry sir, we don't issue morphine to patients who don't need it, especially not if they ended up here because they got drunk and wasted everybody's valuable time." the lady said with great anger. Jeremy was flabbergasted at someone treating him this way, seeing how he was used to most people kissing his ass because of his fame. He didn't get the chance to gather himself for a reply though, as the nurse had already left after dropping the discharge papers on his bed.

Hammond was happy to be walking alone for a while, so he had all the time in the world to arrange his thoughts a bit in his overworked brain. He tried to find a pattern in the chaos that was the forest but he knew it was no use. James was the one who would get them out of this mess, he was sure of it. He felt bad for treating James so roughly the night before and cursed at himself quietly for not managing to keep his calm when it mattered and promised himself he'd apologize properly once they found the civilized world again. He thought about how he would go about it, but had to snap out of it when he found he wasn't thinking of apologizing at all, but of how soft James' hands felt when he'd taken the first aid kit from him, and how he completely lost himself in James' work on the knee that he so clumsily tried to fix himself.

"What on earth am I doing.." Richard said to himself. He picked up his pace and soon found himself embarking on an area he had yet to see before. Finally he was on the right track, or at least not walking around in circles. The scenery had changed from the chaotic green mass to neat rows of trees carefully placed in a line by human hands. He was getting closer to civilization and his heart started to pound faster. He grabbed the radio immediately and spoke. "James, James do you copy? I've found the end of the regular forest, it's man made from here on out now!" Richard released the button and awaited a reply, but all he got was complete silence. He figured the trees were just blocking the signal and didn't think too much of it. He continued moving forward through the newly discovered area and couldn't believe his eyes when he stumbled upon a small cabin at a large lake in the middle of the forest.

Without Richard slowing James down he had reached the civilized world within two hours, by constantly checking if he was still moving forward in a straight line and marking his path with the sticks. He'd ended up in a remote town with a whopping total of 50 residents, but it was much better than the forest and James was too tired to care. He made his way to the biggest building in the centre of the town, which had a roughed up sign hung up crooked on the doorway stating that it was the town's bar. He entered the building to be welcomed by an explosion of sound, atmosphere and smiling faces. It seemed as if the entire town was getting drunk here and James could barely make his way to the barkeeper through the crowd.

"Excuse me, do you perhaps have a phone I could use? And a pint please, I don't think I've ever been this thirsty before." James shouted in the barkeepers ear once he'd reached him, barely loud enough for the barkeeper to hear over the hurricane of sound. The man gave him the perfectly tapped pint before pointing out the small payphone at the other end of the room. James chugged the whole thing to quench his thirst, knowing he'd regret it the next morning. He couldn't handle his alcohol to begin with, let alone after walking for hours on end on an empty stomach.

He made his way through the crowd once more, this time to the phone to give Jeremy a ring. He figured Clarkson wasn't one to be bothered too much by them taking their sweet time, but surely he would've noticed their disappearance. He reached the payphone only to realize that it was called a payphone for a reason and that he didn't have a single penny on him. He looked around for someone sober enough to ask for some change, when a girl approached him instead. "Hey there stranger, you're not from here are you?" the girl said with a sinister smirk. "Uhm, no, you're quite right about that. My friend and I got lost in the forest and we split up to find the civilized world again, so I'm trying to give him and another friend a ring to tell him to come here." James replied. The girl looked at him funnily and then laughed maniacally, before containing herself again and apologizing to James. "Sorry, sorry. I've just never heard anyone refer to this shithole as the 'civilized world', let alone an outsider." the girl elaborated. That payphone right there won't do you much good though, it's been broken for years. In fact, I'm pretty sure there's not a single phone to be found around here, we don't really need any with everyone living so close together.

Richard wasn't sure why anyone would want to live so remotely, but he was pretty glad that he'd found the one lunatic that did. He made his way to the entrance of the cabin and looked for a doorbell, but there was none. He decided to knock instead, but as soon as his fist landed on the door it moved open with a creaking sound. "Mhm, that's odd," Richard whispered to himself. He opened the door completely and stepped inside. "Hello? Is anyone in here?" he asked loud and clear into the darkness of the seemingly abandoned cabin. He looked around a bit and took in the cabin, only to realize that there probably hadn't been anyone living there for months, if not years. Cobweb was taking over most of the interior and he could see that the ceiling lost it's water tightness a long time ago. He looked around in the cabinets to see if he could find anything of use, but they were all empty. Whoever lived here took off with everything and just left the place to rot.

He was about to up and leave when he noticed a small ladder in the corner of the cabin, leading up to what seemed to be an attic. The steps of the ladder were in perfect condition and looked brand new, whilst the rest of the wood in the cabin had seen their best days already. Triggered by his curiosity Richard placed his hand on the ladder, and after having a short argument with himself on whether or not this would be a bright idea he climbed upwards.

He didn't know what to expect upstairs, but no warning upfront could've prepared him for this moment. The room he had just entered was filled with lit candles slowly burning away and breaking through the darkness, enlightening a dark figure sitting in the midst of the room, surrounded by all sorts of weird artifacts Richard couldn't identify. Then again, he was slightly preoccupied with the shiny axe the stranger was leaning on though, as well as the seemingly fresh blood dripping down from it.


	3. Pink Panda

Chapter 3

James had eased into the company of the girl at the bar, whose name he learned to be Ashley. The two got into a slightly less awkward conversation once Ashley had managed to contain her random outbursts of laughter and it turned out the two of them had a lot in common. For instance; Ashley was a complete neat freak, had a system for every process she'd ever encounter in her life and drove a fluorescent pink Fiat Panda. The latter was the main reason for James to be conversing with Ashley though, seeing how all he could think about was how helpless Richard probably was right now, alone and lost in the forest and he'd need a ride to find him. He put his mind at ease by telling himself that he'd soon be reunited with his dear friend, although he didn't see a way in which it would happen swiftly enough. It took Ashley a couple of minutes to make him snap out of his trance, a state he'd often find himself lost in when he thought of Richard. "Hello? Hello, is anybody there? Earth calling here!"

"Oh, right. Sorry Ashley, I'm just overly worried about my friend." James said with a somewhat despaired tone. It wasn't every day he had to borrow a car from a complete stranger and he wanted to go about it as carefully as possible to ensure his success. His worries proved unnecessary when Ashley greeted his wavering expression with a grin from ear to ear. "I get it, James. You wanted to borrow my ride then I take it?" she said whilst maintaining the smile. "Well I was going to go about this a bit smoother, but yes that was the essence of it." James said, now blushing so much his skin tone matched the fiery red of Ashley's bracelet set with rubies.

"Well, I suppose I'm fine with that. You seem like a trustworthy person and if you decide to drive off into the sunset with your lover in my ride I'm quite sure it won't be too hard to find you, what with you being famous and all that.". James was unsure on whether he should feel insulted because she referred to Richard as his lover, or thankful for getting what he wanted. He didn't get the time for either though, because Ashley saw him struggling with his inner conflict before he'd formatted a proper reply. "Don't worry James, your secret is safe with me." Ashley's face had managed to form a serious expression as James nervously shuffled around on his seat. "He's… He's not my lover. In fact, I'm pretty sure he's as straight as can be, too." James uttered. Ashley was taken by surprise by these words, but quickly recovered with a snappy "Well, only one way to find out isn't there?".

Richard wasn't sure as to what to do in this situation. He'd seen many gruesome things in his life, the TV business was quite nasty. Nothing had prepared him for a gloomy figure in a cabin in the middle of the woods though, especially not if the aforementioned was leaning on an axe. He didn't get much time to react though, seeing how his startled squeal had seemingly awoken the stranger. The man slowly rose to his full length now, an impressive six feet five at the very least, Richard thought. Compared to Richard anyone could look like a mountain giant though, so he wasn't immediately aware of the gravity of the situation he'd gotten himself into.

"Uhm, I'm sorry to disturb you, I.. I should go" said Richard with an elevated voice as he tried to make his way to the ladder once more to get as far away from the man as possible. He was nearly there and thought he was going to be fine when he heard a grunt immerse from the man, causing Richard to jump up and turn around swiftly. He'd followed a self-defense class years ago, but he wasn't too confident of his ability to take this giant down. The man came walking towards him slowly, keeping a gentle pace. He'd left the axe at the chair, which calmed Richard's nerves a bit. He relaxed, and tried to make out the appearance of the shaded figure.

Richard had never been more terrified in his life once the man's full facial features came into the little light that was emanating from the candles. Or more so, the lack of any. Before him stood a man dressed in a rather dashing suit with a bright red tie, whilst sporting freshly polished leather shoes. As Richard's gaze traveled upwards his heart skipped a beat, when his eyes finally met with a faceless head at the top of the man. This must be a dream, Richard thought. "Any minute now I'm going to wake up and find myself in the hotel in Berlin. This can't be true." Richard told himself.

His heart was racing at the moment and he was positive that if he wouldn't get away from the man soon, this monstrosity would be the last thing he'd see. Ignited by a burst of adrenaline and the still very much so present will to live he made a sprint for the ladder, threw himself down without using the steps and bolted towards the exit. At this point, Richard was beyond himself. He'd run out of breath about ten minutes earlier, but he had to keep running. He couldn't bring himself to stopping and checking if he'd put a large enough distance between himself and the cabin, due to the pressing feeling that something, somewhere was still following him. He felt the gaze of the faceless man piercing his soul behind him and he knew he had to keep running. "Just.. keep.. going" Richard said whilst panting loudly.

He kept running at full speed for a few more minutes, until he finally collapsed. His legs would carry him no further and he was reduced to crawling through the dirt and dried leafs from the large oak that overshadowed him. As Richard moved onward he suddenly became aware of his surroundings a bit more, and the anxiety that had taken control over him had made way for decisiveness. He would not end up here, forgotten and alone in the middle of the woods, driven to paranoia by some stranger. It was then when Richard gathered every last bit of his strength and even more so his nerves, to stand up and look back over his shoulder. Only for everything to fade to black as soon as he saw who was approaching him at a calm tread.

James got into the Panda after hastily thanking Ashley one final time. He had the feeling something bad had happened to Richard and he wasn't one to disobey his gut feeling. Knowing the little vehicle by heart he put the machine in gear and slammed the throttle to take off with screeching tires and a roaring engine. He may be known as Captain Slow, but this was not the time for a gentle ride. The figure of Ashley waving him off in his rearview mirror got smaller and smaller, and within seconds became part of the blur that he left behind.

Within but a few moments James was pushing the little engine to its fullest and was driving on the dusty trail with a devastating velocity. The pink paintjob of the ride was covered in a dark mixture of dust, mud and leaves a few minutes into his race with no destination and James took it upon himself to give it a good wash before returning the vehicle. After all, James wouldn't be James if he didn't take care of every detail. It was at that point that James realized he was more worried about keeping the vehicle clean than about finding out where he had to go.

"Where the devil _am _I going, anyways?" James mumbled to himself. He'd been driving for a while, taking turns solely on instinct and his gut feeling. His sense of direction had never really proven its usage before, but this time it would have to do. However, as time was passing by, so were James' hopes of ever finding Richard in this maze of a forest.

"Mhm.. that tree right there looks familiar, I guess." James grunted after several hours. The tank of the Panda was running on fumes by now and to preserve gas he slowed down to a speed unknown even to Captain Slow. Darkness was taking over the forest and a thick fog stretched eerily across the almost identical trees that formed the majority of the forest. Just as James was about to pull over to get some rest, he heard a suppressed cry for help. But not just any cry. It was him.


	4. Salvation

**NOTES: Shout out to SchizophrenicFrankie for the lovely fanart on Deviantart, thanks for being awesome! Enjoy the new (extremely delayed) chapter :D / Main author GoliathNL. (For those confused, it is uploaded via Nodomme's account, but it is a property of GoliathNL (not registered on .) We are co-authoring this one. All messages are being answered by Goliath, texts are corrected and uploaded by Nodomme. **

Chapter 4

Richard's final cry for help was muffled by the hand of the stranger, first covering his mouth and then moving down to his throat with a firm grip. The light behind Richard's eyes was fading as the man got on top of him and tightened his grip. The dark forest becoming nothing but a big blur of hopelessness and death. His hearing filled with a loud ringing, his last struggling efforts at survival barely noticeable for the man who seemed to have no other motivation for killing Richard other than disturbing his peace.

Richard's eyes slowly turned dim, his inane resistance coming to a halt as Richard came to terms with his fate. His mind wandering off to happier times, to the people close to him and to the little moments of pure bliss he had shared with those people. Oh, how he wished that he could see them all one more time. He thought of Jeremy's absolutely poor sense of humour, of the laughter of his friends and family upon hearing the result of that sense of humour, and of James' lips squinting together in a thin line, stubbornly resisting to laugh about a 'That's what she said' joke. He thought of the way James took care of him in the past, of all the kindness that was showed to him. He thought of how many times he had had to resist the urge to move his hands to a.. friendlier position with James, and how he wished he had now.

…..

Slamming the throttle down to the floor and pushing the worn out Panda to the very limit, Captain Slow wasn't quite living up to his nickname as he yelled out Richard's name with a desperate cry. James could see a dark figure leaning down on what appeared to be his dear friend, and doing something he'd never thought he would be capable of, steered the vehicle towards the stranger. James' mind was clouded by rage as he saw someone so dear to him being strangled, and that rage was exactly what drove him -albeit more so the pink monstrosity- to head straight for the tall figure.

The stranger arose from his helpless victim and turned to stare right into the headlights of the Panda, the visage making James' heart skip a beat. "No turning back now" James mumbled as he stayed on course, the stranger now walking towards him while raising his arm, unveiling a rather gruesome looking axe.

Closing his eyes, James braced himself for the impact - the sight of Richard's helpless body on the cold, unforgiving ground still burned onto his retina. Every second seemed to last an eternity as James' thoughts were fixed on Richard's fate. Soon a loud bang filled the quiet forest with an ear shattering noise as the Panda crashed into the faceless man, James' hearing faltering and the world turning even darker behind his shut eyelids. The smell of smoke filled the air, causing James to snap out of his state of shock and to look up from the wheel.

His eyes instantly widened to the size of tangerines as they laid witness to the gruesome sight that had unfolded before him. Embedded into the now not-so-very-pink hood of the car was the axe, piercing the engine and causing the machine to set ablaze. Getting out of the vehicle to assess the remainder of the situation, James' breath was lost when the faceless man was nowhere to be seen. He quickly got himself together upon noticing a slight tilt of movement in the corner of his eye. "Richard!" He shouted worriedly, scurrying towards Hammond's struggling body. "Wake up buddy, I'm here. I'm here." James panted, placing his hand under Richard's head and supporting the weight while gently brushing away the dirt covering his face.

"James…" Was all that Richard managed to exclaim softly, before slipping out of consciousness. James knew there was no time to lose, his raw survival instinct (ha.) kicking in upon witnessing the smoke turning into a searing sea of fire, completely encompassing the battered remains of the Panda. He moved one arm underneath Richard's knees and the other to his neck, lifting him up gently. James realised that if it wasn't for the great surge of adrenaline running through his body he would never have been capable of doing this, and let out an audible grunt of exertion as he swore to himself to enlist for a gym subscription with Richard as soon as this was all over.

Swiftly manoeuvring himself and Richard through the thick forest to get as far away from the burning wreckage of the Panda, James couldn't help but glance down at the handsome man he was holding. He hadn't been very willing to admit it just yet, but after seeing Richard vulnerable and hurt, in desperate need of his rescue.. he knew that the feeling that took over his actions was love.

James paused for a second to catch his breath, diminishing his pace to a gentle strut. The sight behind him was still that of the burning Panda, but the fire and the smoke still had an awful lot of catching up to do, something James noticed by the smell of fresh pine trees taking over for the nauseating chemical smell of burning car parts. "James.. JAMES" Richard suddenly squealed, his voice a fair few pitches too high for a man his age. Richard slowly moved his hand to James' cheek while letting out a vexed gasp. The subtle touch caused James' cheeks to redden furiously, and James was suddenly quite grateful for the cover of darkness underneath the thick trees. James muttered some calming words to Richard while continuing at a steady pace, keeping his eyes fixated on Richard intently. The latter's expression continually alternating between one of shock, agony, relief, confusion and.. did James detect a hint of affection upon the sly smile and glistening eyes that were looking up at him?

…..

About an hour passed before Richard opened his eyes again, this time with more awareness and a faint glimpse of his usual sharp wit. "So, James. Just about when between being nominated dullest person of the year and an hour ago did you become a knight in shining armour? And put me down, will you? I can walk just fine thank you!" James gently set Richard back on his feet and retorted swiftly. "Oh, somewhere in between you being an absolute cock and needing the aforementioned knight" This caused a shy smile to play up on Richard's face, whose cheeks were swiftly flushed. Both men paused momentarily to enjoy the peaceful serenity of the silent forest, before Richard spoke first. "You know.. you know how your whole life is supposed to flash before your eyes when you're about to die?" He said hesitantly. "Well I suppose so, yes. Lots of beautiful women and tuned up vehicles in your near death experience I presume?" James commented. "Oh shut up." Richard's tone had shifted, his expression changing from a faint smile to a look James had never seen before. "I'm sorry. Do carry on, Hammond." James softly whispered. A brief pause followed as Richard regained his posture, the following line bringing James to a complete halt. "You did. You flashed before my eyes, okay?"

"Richard I.." James managed to mutter, completely taken aghast by this sudden revelation. Richard saw the look of shock in James' eyes and quickly tried to cover things up, muttering something vague about it probably being due to him being delirious and not to pay attention to it. Richard tried to move on and stepped away from James, but he felt something stopping him. James had grabbed his hand firmly and pulled him back towards him, looking him dead in the eye as his hand brushed through his hair. "Richard, I should've done this a long time ago already." Was the only warning he received, before James leaned in and ever so softly brushed his lips against Richard's. James' hands were shaking as they ran through Richard's hair, tugging it gently as Richard answered the long awaited kiss eagerly, both their faces burning as hot and red as the searing flames on the edge of the forest.

The kiss seemed to last entirely too shortly, but for a short period of time Richard and James felt happier than they had ever been before. Neither of them could think of the distress they had been in but moments before, and it didn't even seem to matter anymore. Richard was yearning for more when James did break off this moment of pure bliss, and he could not help but fail to suppress a disappointed grunt. He stared hungrily into James' eyes and extended a hand to his face yet again, trying to pull him close for a second kiss. James' shyness and disbelief of the situation made room for desire as he saw Richard biting his lip. "Oh sod it" James swiftly added, before giving in to Richard's touch and meeting his lips a second time, their bodies entangled and their hands gripping each other tightly as they both finally got what they had been desperately wishing for this night. It seemed like nothing could ruin their happiness at this time, nothing could tear them apart from their loving embrace and nothing would ever stop them from kissing each other madly, even if their life depended on it.

However, the feeling of happiness and bliss faded ever so slightly for James as he opened his eyes momentarily, and found them fixating on a tall figure standing across the tree line at walking distance. "Richard?" He mumbled through the kiss. "Mmhm?" Was all Richard bothered to reply. "RUN." James shouted, dragging Richard along with him.


End file.
